It's been a while...

It has been a while since I posted a German word of the day simply for its "educational purposes". Today I thought I would show you something important you need to know if you find yourself driving down the Autobahn.

Today's word is Ausfahrt. What I love about it is that it is pronounced just like you think it should be. What amuses me even more is that it means Exit. How much fun it that?? Ambie and I got the biggest kick out of it and would mutter "ausfahrt" every time we passed an exit ramp. Okay, at least it was amusing to us... Mein Deutscher and the chef were not nearly as entertained as Ambie and I but that is their loss.

Well I have done my duty of teaching you German one word at a time for today.

You're welcome...

Die Eichhörnchenkönigin

Die Eichhörnchenkönigin = Squirrel Queen...

You know who you are.... And it was wonderful to meet you!!!!

And now for something completely different

I intend to start a food blog at some point in time. I just have not mustered the energy to do so yet. I have it set up (sans any content) and will set up a link later.

With that being said I did not have intentions of posting my food thoughts here in the land of potatoes and kartoffels but the German and I had an extraordinary dining experience on our anniversary and I wanted to share. Also please accept my apologies in advance for the lack of photos. We forgot the real camera and neither cell phone camera did justice.

For our first anniversary we opted to go to Chappy's on Church. We went there once before for a business dinner with some of my New Orleans associates and enjoyed every morsel. To say that mein Deutscher and I are "foodies" is an understatement. We tremendously enjoy cooking together and eating. We are not snobs when it comes to food. We simply enjoy good meals. We understand that sometimes a good meal is a Greek pizza delivered to the front door. But I digress, so let me tell you about our experience...

Chappy's has these enchanting private rooms that seat four people. They are nestled along a wall and have a drapery that can be drawn for privacy. I specifically requested that and had let it be known we were celebrating our first anniversary when I made the reservation. We were greeted warmly and wished a happy anniversary as we were escorted to our seats. We were to be in the "Rex Room" For those that do not know Rex is the king of carnival for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We were already being recognized as royalty - LOL.

We ordered our wine and listened as John, our incredibly patient and wonderful server, told us of all the specials for the night. We agreed upon the blackened grilled shrimp with crawfish tails. I have to tell you I am half Cajun. I know my Cajun and Creole cuisine. This also means I know my shrimp... Especially having grown up near the Gulf Coast... Whoa Nellie! The shrimp was outstanding! They were freakin' huge! Two-biters is what I was calling them.... They were seasoned perfectly and were not too spicy which would completely overwhelm the more delicate taste of the shrimp. Thankfully there was an even number of them so we did not have to do "rock, paper, scissors" for the odd one.

Oh! I failed to mention that they bring out a loaf of bread with four different butters... plain, strawberry, garlic and gator (yum). I limited myself to just half a slice slathered with gator butter so as not to spoil my appetite for the noshing to come.

Being that our eyes are always bigger than our stomachs, we both opted for a cup of soup as well. The German got the seafood gumbo. It had a rich, dark roux base and was chock-full of shrimp and scallops. It too was not overly spicy. I would have thrown a few shakes of hot sauce in it but the German opted not to go that route. I had the turtle soup with sherry poured on it. I have forgotten how yummy Yertle can be when put in a rich soup... Thanks for coming out of the shell for my benefit.

We both perused the menu; however, two of the six specials of the evening stuck out and that is the route we opted for... I had a pan-seared grouper topped with gently sauteed mushrooms, lump crab meat and more shrimp. Not meager shrimp mind you, these were the size you would see in shrimp cocktail... And I got six of them - not that I was counting or anything.... Mine also came with Mardi Gras veggies (veggies in the colors of purple, green and gold, the official colors of Mardi Gras) and a twice baked kartoffel (hehe, my weak attempt at throwing in a German word today). Mein Deustcher had the blackened blue marlin. Let me tell you something, WOW!! There were two humongous filets on his plate along with Mardi Gras veggies and the rice du jour (which was almost like a jambalaya - bonus!).

After all the other food we had eaten, we powered through our entrees as best we could; however, to no avail. We could not finish them. Blackened blue marlin is still tasty as a late night snack.... Once you get over messing up the foil swan it's wrapped in that is...

Since you now know we took home a foil swan I guess it comes as no surprise that we did not have even a smidgen of room for dessert... I never even got around to looking at that portion of the menu because I was mesmerized by all the tantalizing seafood choices before me.

If you get a chance, I highly recommend you try this place out. If your experience was anything like mine you will not be disappointed.

Alles gute zum Hochzeilstag

It is hard for me to believe that one year ago today I was standing barefoot on the beach at Honeymoon Island... I was worried because it rained for the first time in 4 days that afternoon. But at 8:00, the sun was just about to set, there was a brilliant rainbow in the sky and there were dolphins putting on our own private show by jumping in and out of the water just behind us... But most importantly of all there was us.

It was almost surreal marrying him in that setting. The waning sunlight sparkled on the water and waves were practically dancing as they softly washed on the shore. We picked a spot with a single palm tree and a weathered picnic table. We sprinkled a few flower petals around on the ground to stand on for good measure although with the natural beauty of the place it was completely unnecessary. There were just five of us, the minister, Ambie, the chef, my German and me.

There was no playing of “Here Comes the Bride” or anything by Wagner. Instead we opted for the lyrical sound of the gently lapping surf and the occasional bird. Standing there about to begin I was the kind of anxious that verges on nervous and was glad for the warm, gentle breeze that would blow to take the edge off of the hot July evening. I had nothing to be scared of because I was about to marry my soul mate, my lover, my best friend. I remember trying to not choke up but doing so none the less as my emotions got the better of me and a few stray tears trickled down my cheeks. Happy tears. It was magical to be holding hands and listening to him say to me "with this ring, I thee wed”.

I remember when we were pronounced husband and wife and the first thing I did was exclaim (and loudly) "Oh my God, we're married". Thankfully I managed to shut myself up so as not to ruin the moment. Instead I concentrated on more important things like kissing my husband for the first time as his bride.

We profusely thanked the minister as he made his was to another little oasis on the beach to marry yet another couple that beautiful summer evening. So it was time for a few photos to capture the moment for not only us but for those whom we love who were not able to join us. Ambie is an excellent photographer and she had us posing up and down the beach and managed to depict what it was we wanted memorialized.

There was real champagne. And beautiful flutes to drink it with... A wedding gift from Ambie and the chef. There were more exclamations of "Oh my God, we are married". I must have said it 10 times. I heard it when I watched the video. We just set the camera down and let it roll and you can hear me pipe in every so often with my little declaration.

Back at Ambie and the chef’s home there was a celebration with their friends and neighbors. There was cake and fireworks. There were phone calls to parents, mine in Tennessee and his in Germany. There were more toasts. And even without the benefit of music, there was dancing. The sound of the water kept the beat. Perfect.

So boys and girls, your German lesson for the day is what I want to say to my German, my husband, my love...

Alles gute zum Hochzeilstag, mein Schatz! Ich liebe dich!

I tag, you tag, FLUGTAG!!

You know since it's a German word that me and mein Deutscher HAD to go... If were not so "fluggin" heiss (hot auf Deutsch), we would have stayed longer. How hot you might ask? Well so hot that it actually felt good when someone spilled their beer on me....

Those daring young men and their flying machines... I'll tell you one thing, they have big 'uns that's for sure!

Funf Jahr

Funf Jahr = Five year... And that is what is being celebrated today - Five years of marriage for Ambie and the chef. I have known the chef about 15 years or so but have only known Ambie almost three years. They are a wonderful couple (and I'm not just saying that 'cuz their family) and mein Deutscher and I love them to pieces! Aside from the Bubbie, they are the only members of the German's family that reside on the good ole U.S. of A.

So happy anniversary you two!! Much love from the two of us! Here's to 50 more!

All the German you need to know..

Eine beer, bitte. = One beer, please.

Nuff said....

'coma, this one's for you...

Prost!

PS: I know I posted this photo before, get over it.

Holy hell....

I am sorry to all my students eager to learn German "one word at a time"; however, sometimes life gets in the way. We are awaiting test results from Mama's latest tests and I am nervous.

So I share with you the word(s) of the day.... Ich konnte nicht einschlafen = I could not go to sleep. I know I should. I have told all the important people in my life "guten nacht" and all the other razzmatazz that goes along with it...

Her tests are not back yet. CT scan on 6/11, results on 6/18... Scarring on the lungs... Not 100% typical of IIIB lung cancer. Some fluid on the lungs... Again, not typical of IIIB lung cancer. If you knew Mama you would say she is anything but typical and that's a good thing.

Potassium is not right... Guess what? Not typical. Other problems? Also not typical. Appointments being set up with other docs? Yep.

Freaking out?? You betcha. Can you sleep?

Not without mother's little helper.

This would be of the suck.

God invented Xanax for a reason.

Kiss your ass goodbye....

die Kuss = kiss

In a former life it was a salt water eel... Auf deutsch it is aal... I just call it yummy!

We got it at the fischmarkt and it was smoked and my favorite food I had in Germany this Spring. Der Kuss is because I am thanking it for giving it's life for my personal satisfaction...

No Ron, unfortunately no zombies were involved in the death of the eel...

die Stiefmutter

die Stiefmutter = Step mother

Let's set the record straight regarding the Bubbie.... He is not mine by birth... He is mine by marriage... He is six. He will be seven next month. He is by all accounts, beautiful, brilliant and quite mature for his age. That is if there is such a thing as a mature six year old...

Not being physcially able to have my own offspring increases my love for the Bubbie even more so. He is a smaller replica of mein Deutscher. Not much smaller mind you as the kid is about 4'3" (or less than a foot shorter than me if you must know).

I am sorry we do not get to see him very often; however, he lives in New Jersey so visits are hard to come by since it involves flights and possibly hotels and rental cars if we just go to see him. Gets pricey quickly... Especially if you would actually like to do something with him or (gasp) eat...

I think I am taking on the role of "Stiefmutter" quite well. I treat him with honesty, integrity and respect. I cheer his successes and kiss away the boo-boo's. It's a given that I love the Bubbie. I have known him since the day he was born. Used to baby sit for him when the German was married to his ex-wife. My whole family has embraced him as well. With my being an only child, he is the only grandchild Mama and Daddy will know. The Bubbie refers to them as Memere and Pepere, the Cajun nicknames for grandparents. The Bubbie delights in the Nana having lost his last biological great-grandparent 4 or 5 years ago. Mama, Daddy and Nana love having him around and are utterly exhausted upon his departure having played, cuddled and loved on him the entire time he visits.

With the notable exception of the cat being totally petrified of him, there is no problem in the world with the Bubbie. Wherein the problem lies is the mother of the Bubbie... She and I were never close. I was always the German's friend, not her's. I had known him for almost four years before they even met. She expects us to take the Bubbie according to what fits her schedule. She expects my German to be the one who has to take a full day off from work to pick him up while she is the one that can conveniently retrieve him on a Sunday. Do not get me wrong, mein Deutscher has no problem taking a day off from work to retrieve his son - that is not the issue. The problem is the expectation on her behalf that my German make the sacrifice of doing so to bring him for a visit because she, in her own words, "does not want to waste a vacation day". Selbstsuchtig = selfish anyone?

She does not adhere to a phone schedule with him. Mein Deutscher calls almost everyday. Usually with no joy as both the house and cell phone go unanswered. Two or three days later she will call and leave a message about how the Bubbie "did not feel like talking on the phone" for one reason or another. I get a bit huffy on that one... He is six, tell him he needs to talk to his Papa before he can watch Nick Jr or before he gets to go play outside. Even if it is just 60 seconds, I love the way my German's face lights up just hearing that little voice pipe up with "hi, Papa". Not being a full time mom or step mom, I am not sure if he is always that way; however, if it were me, my mother would tell me I needed to talk to my father before moving on to another thing... Oh wait a minute, that really did happen! Daddy traveled extensively when I was younger and that was the rule....

She approaches me with issues, questions, travel plans; however, when I breach the subject of travel first I am told I "am not his parent". True; however, fair's fair. If you approach me allow me the same courtesy to approach you. I am not trying to be his mother. He has a mother and when I married the German, I sent her a very heartfelt note telling her that I know my role is to cherish and encourage and love the Bubbie and watch out for his well being.

I am blessed to not be a product of divorce. The German is as well. None of my closest friends are the children of divorced parents nor are they step parents. Same thing with my boat-load of aunt and uncles. It is a slippery slope and I have no frame of reference for it. Never do I want to be compared to what seems to be the negatives of being a step mom. It is far too Cinderalla-esque for my tastes.

So I am calling all mom's and step mom's for advice as to how to handle the situation. Thoughts? Suggestions? All are welcome.

Twofer...

die Ruhestand = retirement

Not that I am fortunate enough to be anywhere close to it; however, it is a subject my German and I discussed at length last night. Our hopes and dreams upon retirement hinge upon the planning we do now. Let's be frank, our planning has sucked. And we are not getting any younger.

Just as it is with most things, once you start thinking about it, signs apppear from all over. Just today as I perused MSNBC.com, I came across this article about the very thing we spoke about last night. It's always that way... You want to buy a certain brand of car and then suddenly they are all you see on the road...

I know I mentioned that our planning sucks; however, I should clarify that we both participate in our respective company's retirement plans. We are both quite fortunate to work for privately owned companies that are much more generous with their contribution match than what we had when working with publicly held companies. We both are socking away more funds than we were before we were married because we can afford to since we have a double income family. We are not tucking away nearly as much as we should if we would like to retire even a little bit earlier.

We have some other opportunities afforded us that several people we know do not have available to them. My family is far from wealthy; however, with proper planning my parents squirreled away a nice retirement nest egg for themselves. With the knowledge that their only child is not so good at the saving money aspect, my folks basically retired for three to guarantee that I would be okay with what I had and the padding they left behind for me. For their love and foresight, I am completely grateful. Truly that is something for which I am completely blessed. With what I have and what they have for me, retirement should be an option I can easily face.

die Blumen

I love me some flowers... A.k.a. die Blumen... Love what is in our backyard!!

P.S. Guess you now realize I figured out a word for the day... Lynnster, we will be speaking German... Some day....

Reverse-Angle Monday

The thing is that I am worried about what the word of the day should be.... No ideas really stick out and it is not like I do not have a dictionary to pour over to glean some insight into what random word to select... Usually my choice is based on how I am feeling at the moment I begin to post; however, there are a few words I wanted to pick just because there are far too many consonants in them and they are over 20+ letters long. For some unknown reason, those amuse me. The German does not see the humor in them but hey, that's his problem.

Now this whole reverse-angle Monday thing came into play because someone just sent me an email about English as a second language (ESL). It's a bit too risque to link to because, quite frankly, Mama does not like the "F" word and I told her that I would not use it in here although my normal days usually has it fly on occasion. Anywho, back to what I was getting to... With English being mein Deutscher's second language, he occasionally makes some errors that make me howl (and, on occasion, snort). My favorite is "that would be suck". I tried to explain to him that something can suck; however, it can not actually be suck... That was after I spit my beer on him, but that's another story....

Stop and think about it.... "that would be suck" is such a great phrase. I actually have other people who use it (with the German's permission of course, NOT!). "Oh, this meeting has lasted over three hours... that would be suck". See? It's actually kinda handy! I wanted to title my blog that but after googling it discovered you get lots of porn that way... If Mama does not like the "F" word, she certainly was not going to like my blog hanging out with XXX sites...

I guess you could say my lack of inspiration for a word of the day, well, to quote mein Deutscher, "that would be suck"...

Count your gesegnets...

Gesegnet = blessing...

Count 'em, folks. They are plentiful even in your darkest moments.

Even when Mama was diagnosed with cancer, I was counting the blessings in my life. My faith and my family are amongst two of the largest. I am a fortunate person inasmuch that I not only love, but I also actually like my parents. I dig spending time with them. Unfortunately I can not right now because the German has the lingering effects of a cold he brought home last weekend and I still may be an incubator.

Can't be around the parents and the Nana if there is a chance I could get any of them sick. No germs from the German are to be shared in such a fashion.

So today I thought I would share funf (5) Gesegnets with you:

1. Being a complete bum all day was decadent and refreshing.
2. The mango margarita I had a lunch was quite the tasty treat.
3. Being rolled onto NiT today made me very happy!
4. The German and I have decided to quit smoking. Now we just have to pick our quit day.
5. I am almost ready for bed....

Ironic, isn't it?

I love me some irony, yes I do. Mein Deutscher and I were working on my vocabulary and were going through the names for body parts... der Fuss, die Hand,.. Der is masculine and die is feminine for "the".

So anywho we are going over the words when two words struck me as funny... The word for breast is die Brust (feminine); however, the word for nipple is der Nippel (masculine)... Don't know why that tickled me so but it did...

Unfortunately, your word of the day...

Lunge Krebs (bet I do not need to translate to lung cancer, do I?)

Over a year... 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days... It was a year April 24th... That was the day the wonderful Dr. Bill Putnam of Vanderbilt cut the horrible cancer out of Mama... One of the best and worst days of my life as I remember it. I know Daddy was as scared as I was. After all, he's known her over 44 years and I had only known her the 40 I had lived through to that point.

I remember when she was first diagnosed (in March 2006) with non-small cell lung cancer. The pulmonologist told us it looked like IA and that it should easily be removed with a wedgectomy His prognosis was no radiation and no chemo, that's it. I remember he actually said the other "C" word.... CURE...

I remember on the 24th of April when Dr. Putnam called to have Daddy and I come up to discuss the surgery with him. I was so anxious because her first CT scan showed something the size of a quarter and now the pure evil should be removed from her petite body. I was nervous, anxious, jittery and about to throw up.

He led us into the room to speak to us. I had my trusty notebook and pen at hand, you never know when you might need to take notes. It was worse than he thought.... Hidden behind the quarter-sized tumor was a much larger grapefruit-sized one that did not light up during all the preliminary tests. It was wrapped around some lymph nodes... How many? Lots. Had to take those too. Fortunately the right lung looked clear and there was nothing else showing cancer.

Prognosis? Much different than the pulmonologist's original thought... Now there will be chemo - about 12 weeks worth of it. Now there will be radiation - about 6-8 weeks of it. Chances of it spreading? Yep. Now I really want to puke.

The look on Daddy's face must have mirrored my own. Complete, utter devastation and worry. My immediate family is a family of three. An oddity in Catholicism. We are a tight knit crew and we have the large extended family to prove it. Daddy is the baby of ten and Mama is the middle of five. Cousins out the wazoo.... However, we are the only part of the contingency in Tennessee... Oops, forgot to mention that the Nana lives with the folks. The Nana is the Mama's mother... I was living with the German (and about to get engaged in eight days unbeknownst to me) and, unfortunately, he was out of town on business this day. Daddy and I had to be there for one another and our one rule was to not cry in front of Mama.

Chemo and radiation are a bitch. I never want to go through the pure hell Mama went through. Ever. Wouldn't wish it on another living soul. Period.

She got a diagnosis of "no new visible sign of disease" back in the fall of 06. It is time for the next Cat Scan results next week and we are praying, hoping, wishing, crossing our fingers and everything else that this will say the same... No visible sign of disease.

Cancer is a vicious, evil beast and shows no discrimination or regard to any that fall victim to it. I say that even more so because Mama is not a smoker, never has been... It's just "one of those things".

People, those that know me and those that do not, I ask for your prayers for Mama. If you are not a prayerful person, I ask for your kind thoughts and well wishes for her. 63 years and some odd months is way too short a time for her. I want my parents to happily and healthfully celebrate their 50th anniversary in 6+ years and many more to come.

I just needed to get this off my chest. The nervous, anxious, jittery thing is kicking in again. Thank God for a nice cold Yazoo Dos Perros to wind down this week.

There will be a much lighter, happier German word the next time. Promise.

Oscar, put your lid back on your trashcan!

I still have a migraine... Almost two days later my head still hurts. To quote my German, "that would be suck"... Yes, he says that, and yes, I snort each time he does....

Today's word is norglerisch and it means grouchy, hence the title of the blog.... Yes, I am grouchy and who would not be after 48 hours worth of headache?

I need me some Aspercreme and some kick-ass drugs. It was so bad that I skipped Deutschklasse tonight and am attempting some studying on my own to keep up. We are currently studying food and I love me some food...

Let's talk about sex....

Now that I have your attention I thought I would share the German word of the day... What is a simple three letter word in English is der Geschlechtsverkehr auf Deutsch. So now you know. What you do to seduce someone with it is up to you...